Antitailing device



March 31, 1 3 M. M. GUGGENHEIM 1,798,731

ANTITAILING DEVICE Filed Sept. 29, 1928 ll lllllllllln Patented Mar. 31, 1931 UNITED s'm'res PATENT OFFICE MAX MAB-C GUGGENHEIM, 01+ CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BAKER PERKINS COMPANY INCORPORATED, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN ANTITAILING DEVICE Application filed September 29, 1928. Serial No. 309,212.

This invention relates to anti-tailing clevices, or devices for removing the tails from chocolates or like coated sweetmeats or goods as they pass from one position to another 5 while their coatings are still molten or in a plastic state.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved device adapted to remove the tails so as to leave little or no trace'thereof and without depleting the normal coating and without leaving a mark or blemish upon the 'oods.

b The invention comprises means adapted to engage the tails of the goods as they pass from one position to another and to displace or carry them away laterally or in a direction transverse to and substantially in the plane of the path of movement of the goods;

According to the preferred form a rapidly travelling endless linear element or cable is mounted between two conveyors from one to the other of which the goods are adapted to'pass and below the level of and transverse to the plane of the goods so that the drooping tails thereof are engaged and swept away laterally.

- Means may be provided to adjust the tension of the linear element and means may be provided to wipe or clean the same to remove tailing material adhering thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one convenient mode of carrying the invention into effect Figure 1 is a diagrammatic fragmentary longitudinal section of a chocolate coating or enrobing machine to which the invention is applied. j p Figure 2 is a front elevation illustrating the invention embodying a cable or like member adapted to remove the tails from chocolates or like goods laterally as they pass from one position or stage to another.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the device as shown in Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 3 illustrating convenient means for wiping or cleaning the cable shown in Figures 2 and 3.

In carrying the invention into eflect ac- 59 cording to'one convenient mode, by way of example, the improved anti-tailing device is located adjacent the path of the goods as they pass from a coating position to the delivery means (on or from which they pass to a cooler where the chocolate covering will set) so that it is adapted to act laterally upon the tails of the goods and remove the same by horizontal displacement. In Figure 1 goods such as chocolates 1 are shown upon a stranded wire belt or conveyor 2, where they receive their coating of chocolate. After coating the goods pass from the wire belt 2 to a discharge conveyor 3 which may comprise a paper band or plaques or any convenient form of reception and conveying means. In passingfrom the belt 2 to the conveyor 3 the goods as is usual pass over a transverse gap 4 in which it is known to locate means for removing the tails, indicated at 1a, from the goods. 1

The wire belt 2 at its end towards the conveyor 3 is. supported upon a roller or rodlike member 5 (see Figure 3) which. is driven by a gear wheel 6. The side frame 7 of the machine is provided with a block or other support 8 on which is mounted a grooved pulley wheel 9 held in position by a shouldered pivot screw 10. The other side of the frame 7a carries a shaft bracket 11 in which is rotatably supported a stub shaft 12. On one end of this shaft a driving pulley or other gear 13 is fixed which in turn is driven by any suitable means, while on the other end of the shaft a grooved pulley 14 is secured. The pulley 14: is similar to the pulley 9 but preferably of larger size. The frame 7 (It also carries a plate 15 which may be ad justably secured thereto by means of screws 15a located in slots 15?) in the plate 15. This plate 15 carries a small guide pulley or roller 16.

Around the pulleys 9 and 14 a linear element 17 (such as a stranded steel cable) is mounted the cable being connected to form an endless loop, the ends of the cable being connected together so as to form a smooth junction with little or no increase in diameter.

The pulleys 9 and 14 are located so that the upper lap 17a of the cable lies horizontally just below the plane of the path of the goods in transit from the wire 2 to the conveyor 3, or below the plane of the upper surface of the wire band 2 and conveyor 3 so that the bottom of the goods in passing from the one to the other fails to contact or engage with the cable lap 17a. The return lap 17?) of the cable is supported upon the pulley or roller 16, the adjustability of the plate 15 being adapted to maintain the cable 17 taut or enable its tension to be varied.

In order to remove the gathered tailing material from the upper lap 17a of the cable and keep it clean, a scraper 18 and wiping pad 19 may be conveniently mounted from the frame 7a or upon any other suitable fixture. Thescraper 18 may be arranged below the lap 17 a and have a lip 18a upwardly projecting into engagement with the cable so as to remove any drops which adheretoor form upon the cable in performing its function. The material collected by the scraper may be passed away down a chute18b. The :pad 19 may be of leather, felt, rubber or any other suitable material, and is adapted to engage the cable sothat it is wiped clean of the tailing material. For this purpose the pad may be provided with a-keyholeslot 19a Which facilitates engagement of the cable.

In operation the cable 17 is driven at a comparatively high speed in the direction of the arrow, see-Figure 2, and owing to its position as the goods 1 move from their position onthe wire belt 2 to the'conveyor 3 the tails thereof droop and touch or engage the upper lap 17 a of the cable; This touching or engagement is suflicientto cause the tails to adhere slightly to the cable and due to its speed of travel cause themto be removed or carried or swept away transversely of the direction of the movement of the goods in their passage from the one position to the other.

The rapid travel of the cable ensures that the tails are parted from the body of the goods cleanly without depleting the normal coating of the .goods and without leaving a mark or blemish thereon. 7 Moreover, the removal is such as to leave little or no trace of tail upon the goods after treatment. 7

It is to be understood that although a travelling cable has been referred to above, the invention is not necessarily confined in this respect and that instead'thereof a ribbon, string or other linear member may be used. It has been found convenient to employ a stranded wire cable or a resilient flexible'element comprising a closely wound spring of endless form. The material. of the cable may be steel orother 'metalor it maybe of vegee table fibre, such as cotton, 'or animal sub stance such as leatheror gut.

According to a modification (not illustrated in the drawings) the lateral or transverse removal of the tails may be eflected by aid of a reciprocating or oscillating element which may be in the form of a taut wire or cord, the ends of which are supported in a frame member, or it may be in the form of a thin metal or other blade. The member, whether of cord or blade form, is given a reciprocating-- motion transverse to the direction of travel of the go'ods,.and may'b'ea back and forth motion substantially in the plane of the wire belt or conveyor, or slightly below the same, or it may" be given a rectilinear travel in one direction in the position above referred to while in the other direction it may move in a depressed position, that is to say, a point on the cord or blade may move in an endless path the upper lap of which corresp'ondswith the plane of themovement ofthe lap 17a of the cable described above.-

Any suitable means, such as crank -or eccentric means, may be used for impartingthe reciprocating movement to the frame supporting the cord or to the blade element,-or such may be reciprocated by means-of a cam in one direction and returned or moved in the other direction by resilient means.

According toanother mode of lateral re; moval,-in the gap between the wire jbeltand the discharge conveyor a series of thin disc elements may be mounted with their axes parallel with the ,direction of movement or path of the goods; lap one another or be arranged appropriate torows or files of-the goods so that .in'eit-her case the tails as they pass from thej-wire to the discharge conveyor are engaged by the periphery ofthe revolving discs and laterally carried or swept away. The-discs may all revolve in the same direction or some may revolve in one direction and others in the opposite direction. F or example,- the discs may be: arranged in two .sets-oneon ea'ch side of the middle of the conveyors so that the tailings are removed from the goods laterally towards bothsides of the machine.

In the case of the reciprocating member and the discs, wipers orsc'rapers and wipers maybe provided and suitably mounted to re- The discs may over move the tailing ma terial therefrom cone tinuously or periodically. V

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire 't'osec'ure by Letters Patent -is': v

1. An anti-tailing device comprising'means located adjacent the path of a sweetmeat in transit from one position :to another, adaptedto'engage and-carry away the tail thereof laterally of the path.

2. An anti-tailing device comprising a linear element, having :a rapid horizontal movement transverse to the path o'f the goods in transit from one position "to another, located just below the level of said path and adapted to engage and carry-away the tails of the goods.

3. An anti-tailing device comprising a member having I a rapid -movement,--one "comits ponent of which is substantially horizontal and transverse to the path of the goods in transit from one position to another, located just below the level of said path and adapted to engage and carry away the tails of the goods laterally thereof.

4. An anti-tailing device comprising means located below the path of the goods in transit from one position to another and having a substantially horizontal movement in one direction transverse to said path to operate upon the tails and a movement in another direction for return purposes again to operate upon the goods.

5. An anti-tailing device comprising a rapidly moving endless flexible linear element mounted on and driven by pulley means so that one lap of the element passes below and transverse to the path of the goods in transit from one position to another and so that the tails of the goods are engaged and swept away laterally.

6. An anti-tailing device comprising a linear element located adjacent the path of sweetmeat's, in transit from one position to another, and adapted to engage and carry away the tailings of the goods laterally of their path, and a wiper element arranged and adapted to clean the linear element.

7. An anti-tailing device comprising a taut flexible linear element in the form of an endless cable, pulley means for supporting and driving said cable and adjustable means for maintaining the tension of the cable, said element being arranged relatively to the path of travel of sweetmeats being transported from one place to another, so that the element engages the tailings of said pieces and severs and removes them laterally of said path.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MAX MARC GUGGENHEIM. 

